ABSTRACT
The restoration of Christian rule in Jerusalem was accompanied by a renewed andopen display of Christian worship which, under the Muslims, had been restricted and confined to places of worship. A number of festivals were celebrated in Jerusalem, some of them accompanied by processions (Figure 4.1), others by prayers held in the churches. Easter brought great numbers of pilgrims to Jerusalem to take part in the festivities which included the procession from Bethany.1 Before sunrise on Palm Sunday the patriarch and the clergy from the various churches, accompanied by the treasurer of the Holy Sepulchre carrying the True Cross, gathered at Bethany. Meanwhile, residents of the city and pilgrims carrying palm and olive branches gathered outside the Templum Domini. After blessing the palm and olive branches, one of the prelates would lead the procession from the Temple Mount via Jehoshaphat’s Gate to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where the two groups would converge and follow the patriarch to the Golden Gate, which was opened to permit their re-entry into the city. The procession concluded with the circling of the Cross in the Templum Salomonis and prayers held outside the Templum Domini.2
